The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 547: One of the hardest thing after marrying someone is learning about their extended family

Chapter 547: One of the hardest thing after marrying someone is learning about their extended family

"What?" I turned toward the succubus, who somehow looked both determined and miserable. "Wait--what do you mean Clan Head?"

Zia looked at me with an ’ah’ expression, but she was instantly distracted by the inquisitive look in Izzi’s eyes--seemed like it was a newly made decision she hadn’t shared with anyone yet. Thankfully, Natha took over the explanation.

"Right now, the Lust Demon branch of the Ra Clan does not have a Head," he said. "It doesn’t really matter though, since there’s no longer any Spectre around, and the Nightmares are rarely active."

"Still, the Head Clan of the Lust Demon branch has a pretty significant influence within the ruling party," Aunt Nezja added.

Well, the title itself sounded grand. It wasn’t the Head of the whole ’Ra’ clan exactly, only for the lust demons. Still, lust demons were the absolute majority in the Ra Clan after Natha purged the Spectre, and the rest of the lust demons looked up at the Ra Clan too, so yeah...it was grand.

Which brought the question...

"Huh? Would it be okay to operate without a Clan Head?"

"It’s fine since Lust Demon was the one in charge of governance, so the Lord’s policy could be considered the Clan’s policy," Natha explained further. "That being said, the law stated that the Lord and the Clan Head could not be the same person."

"Oh?" I stroked my chin to use my brain once in a while. "For check and balance?"

"Yes," Natha gave me an approving smile, and I felt like I could see Eruha behind him. "The problem is, there’s no successor for the last Lord."

What? How weird...you would think for the biggest clan who rule the realm to be very careful about things like this? I knew they were pretty lax, almost like the Realm of Sloth, but...

"Who was the last one?" I asked curiously.

[Our Father’s brother] Aleena replied. [But he did not leave any children, and he died suddenly before appointing any heir]

"Huh? Even though he was an incubus?"

I blinked in confusion. Of all the things I knew about lust demons, they were very diligent in...farming. Sowing seeds, if you catch my drift. Even Zia had...what? Thirteen siblings? I forgot--I just knew they were a lot.

I grew even more confused when the others, including Zia, made an awkward face. The only one who was as confused as me was Izzi. At that time, Natha cleared his throat and gave me a wry smile. "Sweetheart..."

"Oh? Uhm..."

That was when I realized that even the lust demon could not escape the seven percent rate of shooting blanks. Embarrassed for bringing up the topic, I hurriedly brought the focus back to the succession matter. "B-but, can’t the elders or whatever appoint an heir?"

[They can--in fact, they have been trying to do so]

"But?"

[But the conditions are complicated] Aleena said, and I proceeded to have a brief lecture on the Ra Clan’s rules and tradition. Hey--it was my clan too, wasn’t it? So I had the right to know.

But this was the important one; First, it should be someone of nobility--a direct descendant of the ancestor, meaning collateral family could never become the Head. Even then, it was preferable to have the candidate be the child of the ’main’ wive in the family.

Two, it needed approval from the Head of the other branches--well, the other branch now, since they severed the Spectri altogether from the clan after that coup--as well as from the Lord and the Council of Elders.

"Oh..." that was difficult. Anything requiring votes had always been difficult. "Does it need to be anonymous?"

"Majority," Natha replied. "But receiving approval from two of them is not easy. Even if the Council of Elders appoints a candidate, if the Lord and the Clan Head of Nightmares do not approve, it will be shut down immediately."

Uhh...so the fact that there hadn’t been any Clan Head...

"Doesn’t that mean...there hasn’t been any candidate receiving two endorsements since the last Head?"

But that was like...was there really no satisfying person among that many lust demons? Since the Lord and the elders could just cooperate among themselves without involving the nightmares, wouldn’t it be easy for them to appoint a Clan Head?

Or...were they considering Natha’s opinion?

[Actually, there weren’t many available candidates among our father’s generation] Aleena explained as if she could hear my thoughts. [The succession period at that time was rather...brutal]

Ah, that was the time when they did the coup, right? I glanced at Natha, who was smirking lightly. Look at this demon; weren’t you the cause of this declining candidate, my Lord? You were the cause of that ’brutality’ after all.

"During my father’s rule, no candidate passed both his and the Nightmare’s Clan Head’s approval," Zia finally spoke again. "But then, the clan still worked well thanks to the council of elders, so even if it would be easy to receive approval from Zir’Kal, no one really bothered to come up with candidates anymore, since our generation was still considered young."

"I see..." I nodded while stroking my chin. This sounded like a conversation I might have had in my previous life with the family if I wasn’t bound to the hospital. A family matter with sprinkles of politics. "Wait--then what about you?"

I looked at Zia with a returning confusion. She was among the youngest of her generation, after all. She would only turn into an adult after the new year.

"Naturally, Zidoa passed the nobility condition," Natha answered my question. Oh, right--I did hear that Zia had the highest rank after Zir’Kal. "And there’s no age requirement for the candidacy. As for the endorsement..."

He shifted his gaze toward the communication orb, waiting for the Lord’s voice. Aleena did not speak immediately; from the faint sound of tapping on the other side, it seemed like she was in deep contemplation.

[Are you sure, Zia?] she asked; no longer using the Lord’s voice, but a sister’s one. Softer, and full of concern. [You hated the idea of staying in the clan]

Yeah, that was what I worried about too. Zia did not just dislike the family and the realm; she hated the societal values and the traditional view of the lust demons itself. It was one thing coming back to drag her brother from the throne, but putting herself as the center of that society was...

"...it’s something I must do," Zia said, with a pair of hard eyes and frowning brows. The way she clenched her hands and tensed up made her look like she was ready for a battle.

Perhaps, for her, it was indeed a battle.

A sigh could be heard from the communication orb before Aleena finally spoke. [If you’re sure, I shall give my endorsement]

"Thank you, Sister."

"What about the other Clan Head?" I asked, looking at Natha. But he simply shifted his gaze toward Aunt Nezja.

"I shall approve," she responded with a gentle but firm voice, nodded at Zia.

"...what?!" my bewilderment seemed to be never-ending. "Wait--Aunty is the Clan Head?"

"There’s not many among us left anyway, and Natha couldn’t have it by law," she lightly shrugged her shoulder.

"In the first place, it belongs to you, Aunt," Natha chuckled. "You’re the one from the direct line."

"I guess-not that it’s useful or anything," Aunt Nezja scoffed dismissively.

Uhh...I hadn’t thought about it before since I was so focused on Shwa, but it seemed like it was high time for me to study about my new clan--although I barely even knew about the druid side of the family, not to mention having nothing on the human side.

Oh, whatever--this wasn’t the time to think about my own business.

"So there we have it," Natha intertwined his fingers together on the desk, silver eyes staring at the barely adult succubus. "If Zidoa is really sure, we can proceed with that."

I looked at Zia, whose face and body showed a contradictory situation. While I could feel her trembling hands, her expression was fierce and full of determination. But for all I knew, lust demons were good at acting. Zia rarely used that ability, but it was inherent in her body, after all.

Zia, unlike me, wasn’t the reckless type. She would not blurt out such a life-changing decision from one or two minutes of contemplation. Perhaps she had been saving this solution as a last resort, but found no choice to use it in the end.

Seeing that both Natha and Izzi had no idea that Zia would make this decision, she must have been thinking about it all alone since last night, when we told her about the meeting. Perhaps, the morning bakery date was an effort to boost her morale before this gathering.

But this wasn’t something that should be contemplated alone, in my opinion. It was something that she clearly loathed, and I’d hate to think that her life might get ruined just because we wanted to deal with one stupid incubus.

And so, I took an action I deemed necessary in that situation. "Zia, can we talk for a sec?"

Before Zia could give an answer, and while everyone still looked at us in surprise, I pulled her up and dragged her out.

I kidnapped her.